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What a SOC 2 compliance audit actually is
A SOC 2 compliance audit is an independent examination of how you protect customer data. In a SOC 2 compliance audit a licensed CPA firm looks at your security controls, tests whether they really work, and writes a report saying what it found.
The output of a SOC 2 compliance audit is what your customer wants. They cannot inspect your systems themselves, so instead they ask a neutral third party to do it and to put its name on the answer.
One thing to get straight now. There is no such thing as SOC 2 certification, and no certifying body exists. SOC 2 is an attestation issued by a licensed CPA firm under standards set by the AICPA. Anyone selling you a SOC 2 certificate or badge is selling something your customer’s reviewers will not accept.
Why someone asked for your SOC 2 compliance audit
Almost nobody goes looking for a SOC 2 compliance audit. It arrives, usually attached to money.
The usual trigger for a SOC 2 compliance audit is a security questionnaire during procurement. A buyer wants proof before they hand over their data, so their vendor review asks for an independent report. Until it appears, the contract sits still.
“No SOC 2 report, no deal” is not a scare tactic. For enterprise buyers it is simply the policy.
Other common triggers for a SOC 2 compliance audit include a compliance deadline, a renewal where the customer raised the bar, or a move upmarket where every prospect starts asking the same question. Some teams also start after a near miss, because a failed vendor review is an unpleasant way to learn the rules.
SOC 2 compliance audit Type I or Type II
There are two reports. Buyers frequently ask for a SOC 2 compliance audit without saying which report they mean, so ask them in writing before you spend anything.
| Type I | Type II | |
|---|---|---|
| What it proves | Controls were designed properly on one date. | Controls actually ran properly over months. |
| Watch period | None | 3 to 6 months, and it cannot be skipped |
| Total time | 1 to 3 months | 6 to 12 months |
| Auditor fee | $5,000 to $30,000 | $10,000 to $70,000 |
| Repeats | Rarely, it is usually a stepping stone | Every year |
| Who accepts it | Some buyers, often as a stopgap | Nearly all enterprise buyers |
In short, a Type I SOC 2 compliance audit says the design looks right. A Type II says the design held up under observation. Since a Type II carries a fixed watch window, the calendar rather than the budget decides your finish date.
Still unsure which one your customer will accept?Tell us what they asked for and we will say which report you actually need.
Ask usThe five criteria that set your SOC 2 compliance audit price
Every SOC 2 compliance audit is built on five Trust Services Criteria. Only the first is mandatory. Every extra one you add costs real money, which makes this the highest-stakes decision you will make before starting.
- Security (always required)
- Keeping out people who should not get in. Access control, monitoring, and how you respond when something goes wrong.
- Availability (adds about 10 to 25 percent)
- Your system stays up the way you promised. Relevant when you sell an uptime commitment.
- Confidentiality (adds about 10 to 25 percent)
- Sensitive information stays restricted and is destroyed on schedule.
- Processing Integrity (adds about 30 to 50 percent)
- Your system processes data completely and accurately. Worth confirming the customer truly asked for it.
- Privacy (adds about 30 to 50 percent)
- Personal information is handled the way your notice promises. This is the one most often added by accident.
The 40 percent mistake. One unnecessary criterion can widen a SOC 2 compliance audit scope by roughly 40 percent. Before anything else, go back to the customer and get the required criteria in writing.
How a SOC 2 compliance audit actually runs
A SOC 2 compliance audit runs in six stages. Only the last two involve the auditor at all, and the first four are where we work.
Decide the SOC 2 compliance audit scope
Which criteria, which systems, which people. Write down what is excluded too, because vague edges are the main reason budgets drift.
Gap analysis
Compare what you do today against what the SOC 2 compliance audit criteria require. The output is a ranked list of what is missing.
Remediation
Close the gaps. Access reviews, logging, onboarding and offboarding, change approvals, vendor records. This is where most of the effort lives.
Evidence collection
Gather the proof a SOC 2 compliance audit needs for every day it should have run. Screenshots, logs, and tickets, not promises.
The SOC 2 compliance audit watch period
Type II only. Three to six months during which your controls simply operate and the record builds.
SOC 2 compliance audit fieldwork and report
Two to four weeks. The licensed CPA firm tests, asks questions, and then issues the report.
What a SOC 2 compliance audit costs
A SOC 2 compliance audit produces two separate bills, and confusing them causes most of the sticker shock. Preparation is one cost. The examination itself is another, paid to the CPA firm.
Preparation and remediationWhat we charge, fixed fee$5,000 – $40,000
Type I examinationPaid to the licensed CPA firm$5,000 – $30,000
Type II examinationPaid to the licensed CPA firm$10,000 – $70,000
Typical all-in, first yearStartup or mid-market software company$20,000 – $65,000
Later yearsThe hard work is already done$15,000 – $40,000
SOC 2 compliance audit pricing varies more than people expect. The same company with the same scope might be quoted roughly $15,000 by a boutique firm, $35,000 by a mid-tier firm, and $90,000 by one of the Big Four. Notably, the premium buys a recognisable logo on the cover rather than a different opinion.
Be careful at the bottom too. A quote of $3,000 to $5,000 for a full examination is a warning sign, because there are not enough hours in it to test anything properly.
Want your number instead of a range?We reply with a scoped fixed fee, usually the same working day.
Get my quoteHow long a SOC 2 compliance audit takes, and what you cannot speed up
In a SOC 2 compliance audit, money buys speed in the preparation phase. Money does not buy speed in the watch period.
| Phase | Type I | Type II |
|---|---|---|
| Readiness and gap analysis | 1 to 2 months | 1 to 2 months |
| Remediation | Usually folded in | 2 to 6 months |
| Watch period | None | 3 to 6 months |
| Fieldwork and reporting | 2 to 3 weeks | 2 to 4 weeks |
| Total | 1 to 3 months | 6 to 12 months |
The watch period is fixed by the standard, so it sets the earliest date your SOC 2 compliance audit can finish. Consequently, the most valuable day to begin is always the first one you seriously consider it.
Who may issue a SOC 2 compliance audit report
Only a licensed CPA firm may perform a SOC 2 compliance audit and issue the report. This is not a formality, and it is worth understanding before you hire anyone.
- The licensed CPA firm
- Performs the examination, forms the opinion, and signs the report. Nobody else can do this part, whatever they call themselves.
- The readiness consultant, which is us
- Prepares you. Scoping, gap analysis, policies, control fixes, evidence. May not audit you afterwards, because that would break independence.
- The compliance platform
- Software such as Vanta, Drata, Secureframe or Sprinto. Automates evidence collection. Notably, it does not fix a missing control or write a policy that matches your systems.
Five SOC 2 compliance audit mistakes that cost real money
Adding criteria nobody asked for
Putting all five in scope when the customer wanted Security alone. Roughly a 40 percent scope increase for nothing.
Writing policies before deciding scope
Policies for systems that turn out to be excluded are wasted work, and they still have to be maintained afterwards.
Treating a platform as the whole answer
Evidence automation is genuinely useful. However, it collects proof of controls that exist, and it cannot invent the ones that do not.
Leaving the scope boundary vague
Scope creep is the top cause of SOC 2 compliance audit overruns. Write down what is excluded and why, then hold the line.
Waiting for the deal to close first
The SOC 2 compliance audit watch period runs on the calendar, not on urgency. Starting late simply moves your finish date later.
SOC 2 compliance audit glossary
- SOC 2
- A security report that shows your customers you protect their data properly.
- Type I
- A snapshot showing your security setup was designed correctly on one particular day.
- Type II
- A report showing your security setup actually worked over a period of months.
- Trust Services Criteria
- The official checklist the auditor tests you against.
- Readiness assessment
- A checkup that tells you what is missing before the real auditor arrives.
- Gap analysis
- A comparison of where you are now against where the criteria say you must be.
- Watch period
- The months during which the auditor observes your controls running. Also called the observation window.
- Evidence
- Screenshots, logs and tickets proving you did what you said you would do.
- Control
- A rule you follow to keep data safe, such as requiring two approvals for a system change.
- Attestation
- The CPA firm’s formal sign-off. This is what SOC 2 produces, rather than a certificate.
- Bridge letter
- A short letter covering the gap between your report date and today.
SOC 2 compliance audit questions people ask
Is a SOC 2 compliance audit a certification?
No. SOC 2 produces an attestation report from a licensed CPA firm. No certificate exists and no certifying body exists. Any badge sold as SOC 2 certification will not satisfy a serious vendor review.
Can the same firm prepare us and run our SOC 2 compliance audit?
No. Independence rules stop an audit firm from testing controls it designed. So if one firm offers to build your controls and then examine them, it is describing something the standard does not permit.
Do we have to use Vanta, Drata or Secureframe?
No, although they save time. Those platforms automate evidence collection. Even so, a platform cannot close a gap or draft a policy that matches your architecture, so somebody still has to do that part.
Can we run a SOC 2 compliance audit without a consultant?
Yes, and plenty of teams do it unaided. It works best when someone internal already knows the criteria and has time to run the project. Otherwise the usual outcome is months of work that the auditor still rejects.
How often does a SOC 2 compliance audit repeat?
Type II repeats yearly. Afterwards each cycle costs less, because the controls already run and the evidence already collects itself. Meanwhile a bridge letter covers the gap between reports.
What is the fastest SOC 2 compliance audit possible?
About one to three months for a Type I with a small, tidy environment. For a Type II, six months is a genuinely fast result, because the watch period alone runs three to six months.